Taiwan's FSC drafts eight rules for virtual asset service providers, proposing capital and deposit levels

What happened

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) of Taiwan said on 3 Nov 2026 that it has drafted eight regulations for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) under the Virtual Asset Service Act. The FSC said it will pre-announce them in the coming days under the Administrative Procedure Act to seek comment. All eight are proposed. This story relies on the FSC's Chinese-language press release, not on the draft texts. The English wording is Anvesan's translation.

The President promulgated the Act on 22 Jul 2026. The Executive Yuan will set its effective date.

What changed

Minimum paid-in capital would be fifty million New Taiwan dollars (新臺幣5,000萬元) for exchange providers (交換商), transfer providers or underwriters, one hundred million (1億元) for trading platforms (交易平台商) or custodians, and two hundred million (2億元) for lending providers (借貸商). The amounts add up for a firm in two or more businesses. Financial institutions running VASP business alongside their main business, and offshore VASPs setting up branches in Taiwan, would allocate the same amounts as dedicated operating funds.

Guarantee deposits (營業保證金) would be ten million (1,000萬元), thirty million (3,000萬元) and fifty million (5,000萬元) for those three groups, also added up. The FSC could raise them based on capital, business size and risk. At the end of June and December each year, a custodian would deposit a further 2.5% of its virtual asset custody balance, after deducting amounts entrusted to financial institutions or other FSC-approved items.

The FSC describes a lending provider as a firm that borrows virtual assets from clients and agrees to return or pay the same or a higher quantity or value. It would need at least one year of running a trading platform, or at least two years of both exchange and custody business.

VASPs would publish and file accountant-reviewed half-year reports within two months after the half fiscal year ends, and audited annual reports within three months after the fiscal year ends.

To meet the central bank's foreign exchange management needs, the drafts would set personnel qualifications, annual client limits and transaction controls.

Who is affected

The FSC said financial institution participation would start with banks that already carry on virtual asset custody, with others admitted gradually depending on how the industry develops. Those banks could initially, in principle, offer exchange, transfer, custody and underwriting, with exchange and transfer limited to legal-person clients. VASPs that completed AML registration with the FSC before the Act takes effect, and financial institutions already providing virtual asset services, would follow transition provisions.

What happens next

The drafts will appear in the Executive Yuan Gazette. Comments would run for 40 days from the day after the notice appears there. The release gives no date for the notice, so no closing date. The FSC said the Act and its subsidiary rules will be announced into force together, on one day.